Kearny Federal Savings acquiring Brooklyn bank

Fairfield-based Kearny Financial Corporation, holding company for Kearny Federal Savings Bank, announced Thursday its acquisition of Atlas Bank, with offices in Brooklyn and Staten Island.

According to the announcement, existing Atlas branches will operated under the name 'Atlas Bank, a division of Kearny Federal Savings Bank,' for at least a year after the merger. Depositors of Atlas will become depositors of Kearny and will have the same rights and privileges in Kearny MHC, the mutual holding company parent of the merged company, as if their accounts had been established in Kearny on the date established at Atlas. As part of the transaction, Kearny Financial Corp. will issue additional shares of its common stock to Kearny MHC in an amount equal to the fair value of Atlas as determined by an independent appraiser. These shares are expected to be issued immediately prior to completion of the merger.

The transaction, which has been approved by the boards of directors of both Atlas and Kearny, is expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2014. The transaction is subject to certain conditions, including approval by Atlas's depositors and customary regulatory approvals. Spidi & Fisch, PC, Washington, D.C., acted as legal counsel and FinPro Capital Advisors, Inc. acted as financial advisor to Kearny. Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP acted as legal counsel and Sandler O'Neill + Partners, L.P. acted as financial advisor to Atlas, the company said in a statement.